The "I predict this is the least read post of the pool" edition.

 Hey, did anyone at all “enjoy” today’s Bowl game?  No?  Here’s my analysis:  I turned the game on mid-way through the second quarter and it was 21-0.  I turned it off.  Turns out the game got to 28-0 before some late TDs by UConn.  I feel good about myself for missing 98% of that game.  Add to that the fact that virtually everyone picked the eventual winner, Marshall for a ton of points, the standings changed very little.  That’s why I am predicting that this specific post will be the least read of all the posts in the pool.

Here are the updated points standings.  Keen observers will notice that these standings look verrrrry much like yesterday’s:

1. Michelle L.: 230 (-14)

2. CAAT 3: 222 (0)

2. CAAT 5: 222 (0)

4. Rich F.: 212 (-24)

5. Hutch H.: 212 (-25)

6. Andrew Du.: 211 (-1)

7. CAAT 2: 209 (-14)

8. Jim W.: 207 (-23)

9. Pete J. #1: 203 (-31)

10. CAAT 1: 202 (0)

11. Marc R. #2: 202 (-71)

12. Larry G.: 201 (-5)

13. Grant F.: 201 (-34)

14. Steve D.: 200 (-5)

15. Matt M.: 198 (-19)

16. Harrell R. #1: 197 (-13)

17. Mark B.: 196 (-11)

18. CAAT 4: 195 (0)

19. Harrell R. #2: 194 (-16)

20. Pete J. #2: 193 (-41)

21. Kylar G.: 192 (-20)

22. Mike S.: 192 (-55)

23. Brian K.: 187 (-23)

24. Otis L.: 185 (-37)

25. Scott H. #2: 181 (-10)

26. Dylan B.: 178 (-31)

27. Kylee T.: 176 (-44)

28. Dan E.: 173 (-9)

29. Scott H. #1: 171 (-30)

30. Matt N.: 169 (-60)

31. Mike W.: 167 (-23)

32. Paul K.: 165 (-37)

33. Mike N.: 162 (-15)

34. Eric K.: 155 (-23)

35. Marc R. #1: 154 (-10)

36. Jay H. #1: 154 (-17)

36. Jay H. #2: 154 (-17)

38. Hurley 357: 154 (-27)

39. Ryan W.: 154 (-30)

40. Miela 314: 149 (-37)

41. Dave M.: 147 (-74)

42. Josiah T.: 145 (-31)

43. Brett W.: 142 (-17)

44. Brett G.: 141 (-43)

45. Adam E.: 138 (-23)

46. Fr. Guido S. #2: 136 (-35)

47. Emily T.: 124 (-22)

48. Fr. Guido S. #1: 124 (-47)

49. Hero R.: 122 (-59)

50. Dustin B.: 118 (-54)

51. Brent E. #2: 116 (-31)

52. Dan D.: 109 (-32)

53. Brad R.: 109 (-48)

54. Vincent W.: 108 (-126)

55. Becky H.: 107 (-75)

56. Mason A.: 100 (-38)

57. Baily T.: 93 (-45)

58. Quinn 1130: 91 (-61)

59. Klei R.: 76 (-78)

60. Jason S.: 70 (-29)

61. Brent E. #1: 70 (-77)

62. Peter F.: 69 (-55)

63. Christa M.: 64 (-44)

64. Ally H.: 54 (-88)

65. Tim N.: 42 (-7)

66. Dennis R.: 37 (-102)

…and the net points standings:

1. CAAT 3: 222

1. CAAT 5: 222

3. Michelle L.: 216

4. Andrew Du.: 210

5. CAAT 1: 202

6. Larry G.: 196

7. CAAT 2: 195

7. Steve D.: 195

7. CAAT 4: 195

10. Rich F.: 188

11. Hutch H.: 187

12. Mark B.: 185

13. Jim W.: 184

13. Harrell R. #1: 184

15. Matt M.: 179

16. Harrell R. #2: 178

17. Pete J. #1: 172

17. Kylar G.: 172

19. Scott H. #2: 171

20. Grant F.: 167

21. Brian K.: 164

21. Dan E.: 164

23. Pete J. #2: 152

24. Otis L.: 148

25. Dylan B.: 147

25. Mike N.: 147

27. Mike W.: 144

27. Marc R. #1: 144

29. Scott H. #1: 141

30. Mike S.: 137

30. Jay H. #1: 137

30. Jay H. #2: 137

33. Kylee T.: 132

33. Eric K.: 132

35. Marc R. #2: 131

36. Paul K.: 128

37. Hurley 357: 127

38. Brett W.: 125

39. Ryan W.: 124

40. Adam E.: 115

41. Josiah T.: 114

42. Miela 314: 112

43. Matt N.: 109

44. Emily T.: 102

45. Fr. Guido S. #2: 101

46. Brett G.: 98

47. Brent E. #2: 85

48. Fr. Guido S. #1: 77

48. Dan D.: 77

50. Dave M.: 73

51. Dustin B.: 64

52. Hero R.: 63

53. Mason A.: 62

54. Brad R.: 61

55. Baily T.: 48

56. Jason S.: 41

57. Tim N.: 35

58. Becky H.: 32

59. Quinn 1130: 30

60. Christa M.: 20

61. Peter F.: 14

62. Klei R.: -2

63. Brent E. #1: -7

64. Vincent W.: -18

65. Ally H.: -34

66. Dennis R.: -65

Two games tomorrow.  I can live with that.  I’ve been keeping track, and so far there have only been 2 upsets total in 9 games.  That’s pretty dismal.  On top of that, the biggest upset was only a 4 point underdog.  That stinks.  Now that I am a mile and a half out of the money, I am going to full on root for chaos to reign in college football from now until the end of the pool.  Nothing but underdogs all the time (except for Middle Tennessee against San Diego State).  Damn the man!!!!

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:

Vegas Line: San Jose State -3.5

Median pick: San Jose State for 12

Picks for San Jose State: 47 (average points: 16.87)

Picks for Eastern Michigan: 19 (average points: 11.79)

This is a good place to start.  Part one of my diabolical plan to win this pool was to pick nothing but MAC teams to win.  I am 0-1 doing that, so that is suboptimal.  But here I get to cheer for a MAC team – and an underdog!  It’s all coming together for me.

Every year, I make some crack about how this is the worst Bowl game in the entire schedule, and I still think that.  The only thing even remotely interesting about this game is that the turf is blue.  I think Eastern Washington plays on red turf.  That’s kind of fun – and probably just as cold and isolated.  They should consider rotating sites if they are going to keep it.  Better yet, schedule a game in Alaska and call it “Top of the World Bowl” or something equally absurd.  I’ve got a million great ideas.  Give me a call, NCAA.  I’ll pass them all on.

Boca Raton Bowl

Vegas Line: Toledo -3.5

Median Pick: Toledo for 8 points

Picks for Toledo: 48 (average points: 15.33)

Picks for Liberty: 18 (average points: 12.72)

Dammit!  I am one game into my “Only root for underdogs / cheer for chaos” strategy and I am forced to violate my principles and cheer for a favorite to win.  The reason is because my new strategy is a principle of convenience, one of the core tenets of my being is to wish nothing but ill for anything associated with Liberty University.  I don’t mean I want bad things to happen to any of the students or anything like that, but if they never win another game ever that would be just fine by me.  I feel like if you’ve been in any of my pools before, you know my particular derision for Liberty.  Couple that with a MAC school, and this is as clear a rooting interest as I may ever get (Maybe if Liberty were playing Western Michigan, San Diego State or Georgia Tech I would be rooting harder, but that’s like differentiating between a 10/10 and a 9.995/10).

Another thing I think about these types of games is that they seem like nothing, but they are probably going to be worth anywhere from 10-20 points for everyone.  If you lose one or two, that might not be bad, but if you lose these consistently, you are going to have a real hard time winning.  One could argue that given that everyone puts a ton of points on high point spread games and no points on true pick ‘em games, games like this are crucial to winning.

All right, I predicted that virtually no one would read this, and certainly not this far – of anyone reads these at all past the standings and maybe the preview stats, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense for me to write much more.  Besides, it’s getting late and I still have work tomorrow.

Good luck everyone!!!!